TRITEC finances the 1st Solar Village in Madagascar

(PresseBox) (Allschwil / Basel, 25.06.2008)
Energy for a better world – for TRITEC this is a motto and an incentive at the same time. It’s the reason why the TRITEC Group has committed itself to electrify a fishing village in Madagascar. The TRITEC Group will support ADES and both finance and realise the pilot project "1st Solar Village of Madagascar". In addition to electrifying the fishing village of St. Augustin, including a solar fuelling station, TRITEC will train staff on site. This is designed to create both a basis for renewable energy in Madagascar and also jobs.

Natural Wonder Madagascar

Madagascar is the fourth largest island of the world. It is located in the Indian Ocean, app. 400 km off the coast of Africa. The island is about 14 times the size of Switzerland or roughly the same size as France and Switzerland together. The island, which drifted away from the supercontinent of Gondwana 150 million years ago, allowed for the undisturbed development of flora and fauna for millions of years. Thus Madagascar has become a unique treasure trove of nature. 90% of the plant and animal species are endemic, i.e. they are only found in Madagascar (amongst others, 30 species of lemurs and 66 chameleon species). The land is rich in agricultural produce (vanilla, cloves, pepper, rice) and mineral resources (sapphire, tourmaline, aquamarine). The thornbush forest and the dry forest in the South and Southwest of the island are particularly rich in plant species, such as the unique pachypodia (elephant’s foot plants), didieraceae and the giant baobabs, that can reach a height of 40 m and an age of 5000 years. The island was first settled by humans coming from the Indonesian-Malayan region, Africa and Arabia approximately 1000 years ago. At that time Madagascar was a green island, covered by forests. Today only 10% of the island are wooded.

Deforestation

The Malagasy people use the most wood for cooking, in the form of charcoal. 80% of lumbering is used for cooking over open fires. Since a broad belt around the towns is already cleared, charcoal burning now has to take place 50 – 100 km away from the towns. Whole villages are living off the production of charcoal. In the towns Malagasy families must spend about 1/5 to 1/4 of their monthly incomes on charcoal alone. In the country wood for cooking fires is mostly cut from the adjacent forests. This results in the loss of large areas of forest every year. Here the ADES Solar Cooker Project steps in. Alternative ways of cooking are supposed to enable the population to become more independent of charcoal and wood.

ADES

ADES is the abbreviation of Association pour le Développement de l'Energie Solaire (Association for the Development of Solar Energy). ADES is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) and non-profit association producing solar cookers and promoting the use of renewable energies in Madagascar. The organisation was founded in 2001 by Ms. Regula Ochsner from Switzerland. With the help of solar cookers, ADES wants to provide the economically poor population of Madagascar with an alternative to their conventional way of cooking with charcoal and to contribute to the preservation of the living environment and the fight against poverty and deforestation. For this purpose, ADES promotes the use of renewable energies, in particular of solar energy.

Energy for a better world

Energy for a better world – for the TRITEC Group this is a motto and an incentive at the same time, because this guiding theme includes the environmental aspect as well as the social and economic dimension of the global energy supply. The origins of TRITEC, a wholesaler of quality products in the area of renewable energies and a system integrator, go back to 1987 in Switzerland, with the implementation of the first Megawatt Photovoltaics Project. Today TRITEC is the leading photovoltaics company in Switzerland and one of the leading companies in Europe. TRITEC offers their customers a "one-stop shop" for various services. TRITEC operates as product supplier, implements feasibility studies, designs, plans and realises photovoltaic installations of all types and sizes. In the new PV countries the company additionally provides training and coaching for the specialised tradesmen in order to ensure the transfer of know-how.
TRITEC pursues their goal and guiding theme – to promote energy for a better world – with enthusiasm and dedication.

The TRITEC Group supports ADES and its vision to supply the South of Madagascar with electricity from solar energy. The pilot project St. Augustin – 1st Solar Village in Madagascar – will be handled by ADES in co-operation with the village’s population. The project is designed to be a living example of the use of solar energy for Madagascar. This project is supported, financed and also implemented by TRITEC. In addition to electrifying the fishing village of St. Augustin, including a solar fuelling station, TRITEC will train staff on site. With this project, TRITEC, in co-operation with ADES, wants to create a basis for renewable energies and also jobs in Madagascar.

TRITEC – Reference Installations (selection)

1987–1990 Project Megawatt. 333 solar installations up to 3 kW in Switzerland
1991–1992 Realisation of the first solar installations in the range of 20 kW for Elektra Birseck Münchenstein
1993 Realisation of the first solar installation with special laminates, integrated holohedrally into the roof
1994 Equipment of 40 high alpine weather stations of the Schweizerische Meteorologische Anstalt (SMA / Swiss Meteorological Institute) with autonomous energy systems, based on solar modules
2000 Construction of the first solar installation within the scope of the Solarstrombörse (solar power exchange) of the Industrielle Werke Basel (IWB) in Basle
2004 Awarded the contract for the construction of the worldwide largest solar installation on a football stadium (Stade de Suisse, Bern, Switzerland)
2005 Realisation of the 855 kW solar installation Stade de Suisse as main contractor
2007 Expansion of the solar installation Stade de Suisse to 1.35 MW (worldwide largest stadium-integrated solar installation)
2007 ISES SolarCarport (Freiburg i.Br., Germany)
2007 Minergie P Housing Development Eulachhof (Winterthur, Switzerland)
2007 St. Jakob Stadium (Basle, Switzerland)
2007 IKEA – AFG Arena, St. Gallen
2007 Consultation and installation for the Frank O. Gerhy Building on the Novartis Campus (Basle, Switzerland)
and many others www.tritec-energy.com